Motichur, Uttarakhand: Passengers of the high speed Shatabdi Express travelling to Dehradun from Delhi last Friday came to a grinding halt, as the driver turned on the emergency brakes seeing a huge elephant on the tracks.

The train was passing through a sharp bend in the forest near Motichur in the North Indian Uttarakhand state at about 6 pm when the alert train drivers suddenly noticed the elephant.

The Chilla-Motichur wildlife corridor which falls on this route is prone to accidents involving wild animals, since they cross the track to move between the forest ranges.

Conservationists who have been working in the state to stop elephant deaths in train hits have applauded the actions of the two drivers, Ramesh Kumar and Subodh Kumar.

The incident happened close on the heels of a workshop organized at Dehradun by Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) for frontline railway and forest staffs to train them on safety measures to be followed to prevent wildlife fatalities.

Measures such as reduction in train speeds, especially when crossing the corridor and the ban on waste disposal along the railway track have yielded good results.

Food wastes which passengers dumped from trains attracted scavengers to approach the track, which in the past had resulted in their shocking deaths.

“As part of this initiative, the Northern Railways have been using train drivers familiar to this route, since drivers plying on other routes may not be aware of the issues.” Dr. Ujjal Kumar Sarma of WTI, who is implementing the activities for Elephant-Human conflict mitigation here, said.

At least 20 elephants had died on this stretch between 1987 -2002

But after interventions by WTI, the Railway and the Forest Departments, there had been no elephant deaths since 2002, a railway official said.

The railways had put up hoardings at railway stations and along this route, to sensitize train drivers and passengers to follow the safety measures.

“Wild animals are susceptible to accidents after darkness, since this is the time when they mostly cross the track in search of water,” said Anil Kumar Singh of WTI in Motichur.

“This exemplary act by the train drivers, show their genuine concern towards conserving wildlife and should be acknowledged.” Ashok Kumar, Vice Chairman of WTI said.